FoalHood Friendship
by soldierotaku392
Summary: Time Turner and Ditzy Doo are both social outcasts in their school. Both are bullied to tears and are incredibly lonely. But what happens when one stands up for the other? The answer? A friendship that will blossom and grow. Cover by PencilPonyArist.
1. Walking to School

Hello! Don't have much to say other than please tell me what you think and if you have any advice feel free to tell me! This will be a long story so look forward to many chapters. Also please check out the artist who made the cover, she runs an awesome pony blog on tumblr and has done requests for me before. Her blog name is PencilPony's Drawing! Now without further delay. Enjoy.

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The sun rose over the mountains and shined brightly over Ponyville. As Celestia beamed down upon the small town, the sun's rays protruded into a certain tan colt's room and shone brightly onto his face. He groaned loudly and pulled his covers over his face. But a few seconds later his alarm clock went off; its brass bells ringing loud and clear.

"I get it! I get it!" Time Turner yelled, "It's time to get up."

After silencing the irritating time telling device, he hopped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then Time Turner looked into the mirror and saw his ruffled and unkempt mane. He reached out for a comb but stopped. For the past four months, he combed his hair everyday in hopes of looking nice. But they ended up just making fun of him even more.

"Forget it." Turner huffed as he skipped the comb.

He made the daily procession of walking down the stairs and making his way to the entrance of his house. Then he put on his saddlebags and grabbed the lunch he packed the night before. Finally, he unlocked the door and stepped outside.

The sun glittered in the sky as the birds chirped their morning song. Flowers of all colors and shape were in full bloom. To any pony else it would look like the perfect day.

"Let's get this over with." Time Turner deadpanned.

As he closed the door behind him and walked down the steps, he heard another door open. Turner looked across the street and saw a grey pegasus filly with a blonde mane and wall eyes. He recognized her from his class, but knew little else about her.

As Ditzy closed the door to her house she looked up and her eyes met with Time Turner's. They gazed at each other for a few moments before she smiled and gave a small wave to Turner. He waved back with indifference. Ditzy had seen the tan colt in her class before, however that was all she remembered of him.

_Please leave me alone, please leave me alone, _Ditzy prayed as she started her way to school with her head down.

She observed that if she entered school like this no one would notice her. She could go to her desk at the back of the class and pass unnoticed for the morning. Of course they would still throw paper balls with insults written in them, but she could survive those. Once lunch time came around she would wait until everyone rushed out of class and into the school yard before going outside. She usually found a small table where to sit at and eat in peace. Finally when school was over she would again make sure everyone left before her; she then took the back exit out of school and galloped home lest they see her and start making fun of her, or worse. This has been her routine for the past month since she started going to school here in Ponyville.

The worst part was that she didn't have a single friend who could comfort her or maybe even stand up for her. She was all alone, rejected and abandoned. As Ditzy dwelled on this, tear began forming in her eyes. She fought them back; not wanting to cry in front of Time Turner. Instead she focused on the fact that at the end of the week she would get her allowance and treat herself to a muffin from SugarCube Corner.

As Ditzy approached school she became nervous and tense. She kept her head low and and her tail slumped. She passed by a couple groups of foals who didn't even take notice of her. She relaxed just a fraction as she neared the doorway. There was still one last last group consisting of three colts and two fillies. Ditzy was silently praying to Celestia as the colts were the ones who bullied her the most.

She walked up the steps and was right at the door. She began to smile as she thought she was home free.

"Hey reject!" A red colt with white spiky mane yelled.

Ditzy winced and stood frozen at the entrance.

"Hey reject! I'm talking to you!" The same colt said again.

Ditzy turned around to face the group. She learned that if she didn't turn around they would only call her worse names and start pushing her around until she fell on the ground.

"Good morning Crunch, how are you?" Ditzy said politely.

"Horrible now that I've had to look at you." Crunch sneered. The other foals laughed cruelly.

Ditzy's chest started to hurt but she ignored it.

"Great weather we're having aren't we?" She persisted nicely.

"Might as well start raining if the sun ever sees you." He said derisively.

Again, Ditzy's eyes started welling up with tears. But she refused to cry. It would only serve to encourage them. Instead she excused herself and walked into the classroom as Crunch yelled out one last insult.

Ditzy walked to the back of the room where her desk was. After setting down her saddlebags and taking her seat, she let her head collapse on the desk. She began crying silently, tears pooling on the surface of her hard wooden desk.

Time Turner arrived at school and glanced at the Ponyville clock tower. There was still fifteen minutes before class started. He decided to walk to the play yard so he could sit on the swings in peace until the bell rang.

As he walked around all the foal groups, he saw Ditzy with her head lowered and walking straight through the crowd. Time Turner could tell she was doing her best not to meet anyone's eyes.

_Strange, doesn't she have any friends? _He thought.

Had he stayed just a couple seconds longer, he would've gotten his answer. Just as he disappeared around the corner of the schoolhouse, Crunch began his cruel treatment of Ditzy. He approached the swing set and sat down on one of the swings. He pushed himself with his leg and began rocking back and forth.

All he did was stare at the ground. No particular thought running through his mind. Except for how long until today was over. He remembered when he used to wish the days would never end. He would love to go exploring in the EverFree Forest and look for all the strange bugs that lived there. Then at night he would stay up hours past his bedtime looking at the starlit sky from the telescope in his room.

Time Turner was excited to start school at first; the chance of making friends was uppermost in his mind. But in the first month those hopes were dashed. At first, he tried inviting some ponies to go adventuring with him in the EverFree Forest. But they only mocked him and called him a creep. He was downtrodden but he didn't give up. Then Turner tried hosting a slumber party, he said everyone was welcome and there would be games and snacks; he was positive it would work. He got everything ready that night; snacks were ready and the board games were stacked. He waited and waited… But no one ever came.

Crushed, he cried himself to sleep that night. All he could think was _Why don't they like me?_. From then on Time Turner was never the same. He used to be enthusiastic about everything; curious and fascinated by the world around him. Now the telescope in his room had collected dust and the EverFree Forest was deprived of Time Turner's company. Furthermore, he never said a word in school unless the teacher asked him a question.

However, this didn't cause his bullies to relent. In fact, it only became worse. But Time Turner was determined to not give them the satisfaction of seeing they hurt him. So, overtime he became tolerant to the level of pain they would cause him. Eventually, they found no fun in bullying Turner so they gave up for the most part.

Time Turner let out a long sigh. He then heard hoof steps coming from behind him. He could guess who was coming so started pulling down the shutters on his feelings.

"Well, well if it isn't the nerd. What's the matter the cowlick hairstyle not working for you?" Crunch taunted as he walked up to Turner with his gang.

Time Turner didn't respond.

"Hey dork I'm talking to you." Crunch said.

Still, the tan colt did nothing.

"Looks like no one's home in that empty head." The red colt said, after a waiting a few moments he added, "What a loser, let's go."

After Crunch and his cronies left, Time Turner went back to pushing himself with his leg; wondering when today would end.

Finally the school bell rang; Turner got up from the swings and headed to the classroom. Once inside he put his saddlebag and lunch next to his desk and took his seat at the front of the class. Then Miss Flowers, the teacher, came in and began roll call.

"Crunch." She called out.

"Here." He replied.

"Slick." Miss Flowers said.

"Present." A cyan colt answered.

"Ditzy." She went on.

"Here." The filly replied with a barely audible whisper.

"Turner."

"Here." The tan colt said mechanically.

After roll call was over, Miss Flowers began the days lesson, the multiplication table. Although the rest of the class had a hard time understanding it, Time Turner picked it up in a snap. So, he sat there bored while Miss Flowers restated that multiplication is simply addition of the same number a certain amount of times.

After two hours, the class managed to get up to number five on the multiplication table. However, by that time Time Turner was already up to ten. The school bell rang again, signaling recess. Immediately, every pony, except for Turner and Ditzy, rushed out in a mass stampede. The tan colt and grey filly waited until everyone was gone and took their time getting out.

Time Turner walked to a bench that was on the far side of the playground. He took his seat and got out his lunch: an apple, a daisy sandwich, and a bottle of apple juice.

He looked over to the play set where most of the foals were as he took a bite out of his apple. A group of fillies were taking turns on the swings while a group of colts were playing tag. Fillies and colts were running all over the playground, having a blast playing games with their friends. It made Time Turner feel miserable.

_I envy them, I really do, _He thought as he sighed and took another bite from his apple.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ditzy eating all by herself. But soon three colts arrived at her table, one of them was Crunch. Time Turner thought nothing of it at first. He was the only Crunch bullied. But his assumption was soon proved wrong as he saw the red colt grab a muffin Ditzy had made and threw it to the ground. The filly pegasus looked sadly to the ground.

Time Turner was frozen. At first he wanted to get up, but then they would home in on Turner and bully him even worse than before. What should he do?

Crunch and his goons then began to chant something while pointing and laughing at Ditzy. The grey filly was fighting to hold back tears.

Time Turner began to shake. He knew what they were doing; calling her some insulting name and laughing at her pain. Crunch did the same thing to Time Turner not long after his failed slumber party attempt.

Then Crunch got a real nasty look on his face. Suddenly, he shoved Ditzy out of her seat and she yelped out in pain as she landed on her back.

That was one step too far for Turner.

He jumped up from the bench and galloped faster than the Pony Express over to the four foals. Crunch and his gang's laughter was cut short as Time Turner thundered in between them and Ditzy.

"Leave her alone!" He shouted.

At first the three colts were speechless. But Crunch soon found his tongue.

"Well, well if it isn't the loser nerd. Sticking up for a fellow reject?" He said contemptuously.

"She never did anything to you. You jerk coward!" Turner flared.

"What did you just call me?" Crunch demanded.

"You deaf?! I called you a jerk coward! Bullying a filly! You must really have some self esteem issues." Time Turner snapped.

"Why you!-" The red colt fumed as he lifted his hoof.

"ENOUGH!" Miss Flowers shouted, "What is going on here?!"

"M-Miss Flowers!" Crunch exclaimed.

"He was bullying her! I saw the whole thing happen." Time Turner explained.

"I will absolutely not tolerate any bullying in my school!" Miss Flowers said furious, "You three inside now!"

As Miss Flowers walked back to the classroom with Crunch and his two buddies in tow, Time Turner felt his heart pounding in his chest. With the rush of the moment gone, he began to calm down. Then he turned to face a very awestruck Ditzy; he held out his hoof.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

Ditzy wasn't able to answer. Never before had some pony stood up for her. Her mind was blank and she couldn't move.

"Um, hello? Are you okay?" Time Turner asked concerned as he waved his hoof in front of Ditzy.

Then without warning Ditzy tackled him to the ground with a hug.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" Ditzy cried as tears streamed down her face.

Now it was Time Turner's turn to be speechless. He was caught totally off guard by Ditzy sudden burst of emotion. He lay there awkwardly on the ground with a sobbing Ditzy on top of him. After a few wet moments he spoke up.

"Um, I'm glad I could help… But could I please get up?" He asked.

Ditzy blushed as she scrambled to her hooves.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry. It-It's just that-" She began stammering.

It's ok, I just wasn't expecting it was all." Turner assured as he dusted himself off, "Anyways, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Um, y-yeah… I'm fine." Ditzy replied, just then her stomach growled. She blushed in embarrassment and looked down, "Sorry."

Time Turner looked over to where Ditzy's muffinwas; covered in dirt and now inedible.

"Was that all you had for lunch?" He asked.

"Yeah." Ditzy answered glumly.

When Time Turner was bullied and left crying, he always wished for some pony to be there and comfort him and be his his friend. But it never happened. He didn't want Ditzy to go through the same thing.

"I still have my sandwich, wanna share that?" He offered.

Again, Ditzy was at a loss for words. However, this time, she managed to nod her head in affirmation. So, they both walked over to the bench on the far side of the playground and took their seats. Time Turner reached into his bag and pulled out the white petal sandwich. He broke it in two and gave one half to Ditzy.

"My name's Time Turner by the way. What's yours?" He asked.

"Ditzy Doo." She replied.

They ate their sandwich halves quietly, both wondering what will happen next. After a while Time Turner made a decision. He was about to ask Ditzy a question, and depending on her answer, that will either crush him or elate him. He took a deep breath and asked.

"Do you want to be my friend?"

There's a saying that goes, "It always comes in threes". For the thrice time today, Ditzy was shocked. She looked at Time Turner, who was tense with anticipation. After a moment she smiled wide and bright.

"I'd love to." She answered.


	2. Long Afternoon

Hello again, sorry for the late chapter. But I've been really busy. Anyhow just know that I work on these chapters everyday. Hope you enjoy.

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It was only ten minutes until the end of school and Miss Flowers was handing out the day's homework assignment. Crunch and his friends were absent as they were suspended from school.

As Time Turner grabbed his homework sheet and passed the rest to the back of the class, he caught a glimpse of Ditzy who had a small smile on her face ever since she came back from recess. She looked up and saw Time Turner. Her smile grew even wider as she gave a small wave to Turner. He smiled and waved back.

_I have a friend, _Turner thought as he faced front again.

It was the only thing he could think about. Finally, after all this time on his own, his wish came true.

Rrrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg!

"Remember to bring back your homework tomorrow!" Miss Flowers reminded.

The class was suddenly a buzz of activity as fillies and colts stuffed their books into their saddlebags and stampeded out the door. However, Time Turner and Ditzy did not join the chaos. Like their procedure for lunch time, they slowly packed their textbooks and were in no hurry to leave the school.

Turner was at the classroom door when he heard Ditzy call for him.

"Um, Time Turner?"

He turned around to face her, "Hey Ditzy, is there something you need?" He asked.

She paused a moment before answering.

"Well, I was just wondering if… if you'd like to walk home with me?" Ditzy asked, "If that's okay with you! You don't have to go if you don't want to." She hastily added.

Time Turner thought about it for a moment and then replied, "Actually, I'd like that. Let's go then."

So, Both foals exited the classroom and into the hallway. But Turner started walking to the front exit while Ditzy was going to the back. When they realized they were walking away from each other, they looked back and stopped. They stood there silent, gazing at one another.

_Why is she going toward the back exit? _Time Turner wondered.

Ditzy then shifted her attention from Turner to the front door. As a squeal of laughter from outside penetrated the school, Ditzy's ears flopped down. Turner observed this and soon came to a conclusion.

_She wants to avoid them, _He thought.

It made sense. When Crunch was around everyone made fun of Ditzy. Now that he was suspended because of her who knows what they would say or call her. So, as Ditzy began to walk to the front exit, Time Turner stopped her.

"Actually, going out the front is so boring. Let's take the back exit instead." He said with a smile.

Ditzy looked puzzled at first. But soon she understood and her eyes spoke her gratitude.

"Okay." She said quietly.

So, they went out the back exit, avoiding all the foals, and started for home. But this time instead of being on opposite sides of the street, they were walking side by side, together.

Neither foal said a word, however, as they didn't know what to say. The awkward silence grew bigger and bigger until Time Turner decided to speak up.

"So, what does your dad do?" He asked.

Oh, I don't have a dad. It's just me and momma." Ditzy replied casually.

Time Turner was shocked at first. Just her and her mom? He looked over at Ditzy for a reaction from her, but she just looked straight ahead with that same small smile on her face. As if the question was never asked at all. Baffled, Turner took a few moments to recover.

"Um, okay. W-Well, what does your mom do?" He tried again.

"Well, she got a job at that new sweet shop that opened a couple weeks ago." She answered cheerfully.

"Oh yeah! What was the name? Sugar- SugarCube something?" He wondered, trying to remember the name.

Ditzy giggled, "Corner. SugarCube Corner." She corrected.

Time Turner nodded his head, "That's a pretty cool job. I bet she let's you eat whatever you want for free huh?" He joked.

"No, I still have to save my allowance. But momma always goes me a discount!" She chirped.

"Wow, that's actually really nice of her." Turner replied quietly, looking toward the ground.

"Yeah, momma's the best." Ditzy affirmed, not noticing her friend's sudden down turn in mood. But soon Time Turner looked up again.

They walked a little bit in silence; the awkward start to the conversation long forgotten. But it wasn't long before Ditzy asked Time Turner.

"So, about your parents? What do they do?"

"Well, my dad is an engineer and my mom is an environmental scientist." He said flatly.

"Enivometal?" Ditzy repeated, trying to pronounce the word correctly.

"En-viro-mental." Turner replied slowly, "She studies plants and animals and how they live together." He explained.

"Wow! That's really cool!" Ditzy said excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Time Turner dismissed.

Ditzy was a little confused at Time Turner's reaction. Both his parents had awesome jobs. So why did he look so glum? She was about to ask him when he suddenly stopped walking. Ditzy looked and saw they were home.

"Well, here we are." Time Turner stated.

"Yep, home sweet home." Ditzy agreed.

They stood there silent for a moment before Turner said.

"So… I'll see you at school tomorrow?" He said awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah. Definitely." Ditzy replied nervously.

"Ok… I'll see you around." Turner stumbled and walked rather quickly back to his house.

"Yeah. See you." Ditzy repeated as she began walking to her own abode.

The whole friendship thing was still new to them.

As Time Turner closed the door behind him, he let out a sigh.

" 'See you at school tomorrow?' Of course she's going to be there!" He scolded himself.

He then took out his homework and set his saddlebag next to the door. While going into the kitchen, he looked over the homework sheets Miss Flowers had given him.

"Hm, doesn't seem all that hard…" Turner analyzed as he pulled out a juice box from the fridge.

He went upstairs and into his room where his desk was. Setting down the homework and juice box, he grabbed a pencil and got on the chair.

Time Turner's clock ticked and rocked loudly as the seconds and minutes passed by. Every so often the loud slurp of a juice box punctuated the clock's rhythm. Around half an hour had passed when Turner finished his homework. He checked it over, making sure there were no mistakes. When he couldn't find any, he went downstairs put his homework in his saddlebag and threw away the now empty juice carton.

Going back upstairs and into his room again, he got himself into bed and set his alarm to wake him when it was dinner time. Then, he closed his eyes and listened to the silence of his room.

…

…

…

But he couldn't fall asleep.

At first, Time Turner didn't mind it. Maybe it will take a little longer than usual. But as time passed Turner started tossing and turning to the point that he couldn't keep still.

Finally, he threw off his covers and sat up; he looked at the clock. It was 3:30 pm, half an hour since he got to bed.

_Wait what?_

Time Turner did a double take. Not believing his clock, he went downstairs to check his father's infallible grandfather clock. Still, the time shown was 3:30.

Time Turner was amazed. It never took this long for him to fall asleep. To top it off, he wasn't even tired! He stood there staring at the towering oak and brass clock, unsure of what to do.

"Well, what can I do?" He thought aloud to himself.

A mental list came to his mind and he remembered he had a shelf of science fiction books just gathering dust. There was also a junior chemistry set, that wasn't even open, underneath his bed. Not to mention his toy box. Then he thought of Ditzy.

_Friends… _The word echoed in his mind.

He looked down and started thinking. Then, after a couple moments of silence, he made up his mind.

He left his house and walked across the street to Ditzy's place. When he got to her front door, he raised his hoof to knock on the door. But he stopped. Memories of rejection and bullies resurfaced.

_No! _He yelled mentally as he shook his head, _She's different._

So,he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. As he heard hoof steps approach, he started to get nervous. The door opened and revealed a surprised Ditzy at the entrance.

"Oh, hey Time Turner." She greeted, "Is something wrong?"

The tan colt gulped, "No, nothing's wrong. I just came by to ask if maybe… you'd like to come out and play with me?" He asked nervously.

"Yes!" Ditzy shouted almost immediately, startling Time Turner.

"Sorry." She apologized sheepishly.

_She said yes, _Turner thought, _She said yes!_

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." He said as a smile spread across his face.

Ditzy returned the smile.

"So, where are we going?" She asked.

Time Turner froze. He didn't think he'd get this far. He came over here without even thinking of where to go.

"Um… we could uh… or maybe…." He stammered.

Ditzy giggled and he blushed.

"Wanna go to the playground?" She suggested.

"Yeah! Let's do that." Turner agreed happily.

So, Ditzy closed the door behind her and started walking to the playground with Time Turner. The walk was mostly silent; the two foals were merely enjoying each other's presence. Finally, they weren't alone.

After passing the busy streets of market, they arrived at the quiet suburbs where the playground was. As luck would have it, there wasn't a single filly or colt in sight. They had the whole playlet to themselves.

"Last one to the swings is a rotten apple!" Ditzy suddenly shouted as she dashed off.

"No fair!" Time Turner laughed as he raced after her.

Both foals had never had so much fun in their lives before; the rest of the afternoon was filled with smiles and laughter as Time Turner and Ditzy played together. They played tag, hide and seek, and even swung on the swings!

In fact, they were having such a good time that neither of them noticed the sun was setting on the horizon. By the time Ditzy looked, Celestia had already begun raising the moon.

"Aw, muffins! Time Turner I gotta get home. Momma is probably back from work and and wondering where I am!" The frantic pegasus exclaimed.

Time Turner didn't want his friend to get in trouble. So, he simply nodded his head and began galloping with Ditzy back to her house.

As they went through market, they saw that nearly all the vendors had either closed shop and gone home or were putting away their wares for the day. When they finally arrived at their houses, out of breath and tired, the sun was completely gone and the moon had taken its place. Time Turner and Ditzy walked up to her house and she knocked on the door.

The sound of galloping hooves could be heard and the the door flew open showing a distraught mare with a golden mane and iron colored coat. Her light grass green eyes wide with shock and relief as she looked down and saw her daughter.

"Oh Ditzy there you are! I was just about to go out to look for you. Where have you been?" She demanded, her voice sick with worry as she hugged Ditzy tightly.

I'm sorry momma, I was playing with my friend and I lost track of time." Ditzy explained.

The mare pulled back her head, "Your friend?" She repeated questioningly.

"Yeah! Time Turner!" Ditzy peeped happily as she looked over to him. Her mother followed her gaze.

"Oh, hello there." Her mother greeted, she hadn't noticed him until now, "My name is Tender Heart."

"Hello ma'am, it's nice to meet you." Turner responded politely.

Ditzy's mom paused a moment, fully registering the fact that he was Ditzy's friend.

"So, you're my little muffin's friend are you?" Tender Heart asked with a smile.

"Yes ma'am!" Turner confirmed happily.

"Well, thank you very much for escorting my daughter home." She thanked, "It was very kind of you.

"It was my pleasure Miss Heart. I'll see you tomorrow at school Ditzy." He replied.

"Okay Time Turner, good night!" Ditzy farewelled as Time Turner walked back to his house.

That night Time Turner went to sleep a happy colt. Still smiling from ear to ear while replaying the day's events in his head; not even caring the house was as empty as space.

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And for those of you who want to see what Ditzy's mom look like just click or type in this address image/92245423733. And check out Pencil Pony's blog she posts her drawings and other various random bits of interests. She also takes drawing requests and is a talented artist and she doesn't require any payment.


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